Composition for silver-plating



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

eEoEeE W. oDEL-L, OF BUTTE, MONTANA.

COMPOSITION FOR SILVER-PLATING.

$PECIEIGATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 514,958, dated February20, 1894.

l Application filed June 19, 1893. serial No. f.'= 78,059. (Specimena)To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. ODELL, of

Butte, in the county of Silver Bowand State of Montana, have inventedcertain new and use ful Improvements in Silver-Plating Compositions; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to Which it pertains to make and use the same.

The main object of my invention is to provide for plating metals, asubstitute for silver, which does not require for its application,expensive apparatus or machinery, or skilled labor.

It consists of the alloy or composition hereinafter particularlydescribed and defined in the claims.

To produce twenty-five pounds, for example, of my improved alloy orplating mixture, I take twenty-two pounds of mercuryor quicksilver, twoand one-half pounds of paraffine, eight ounces of sodium, one-half ounceof lead and one-half ounce of zinc, or tin and place the same togetherin a porcelain or other suitable non-metallic vessel, in which they aremelted and then boiled for about thirty minutes. After beingboiled asufficient time, the molten mass is allowed to cool and is preferablycut into blocks of convenient shape and size, which are placed untilrequired for use, in glass or earthen jars. Like proportions of theabove mentioned ingredients are used for making larger or smallerquantities of the alloy or composition. I do not wish however, to limitmyself to the exact proportions stated,

inasmuch as they may be varied within the spirit and intended scope ofmy invention. The alloy or composition thus produced may .be melted andflowed over the surfaces of other metals to be plated, or, the articlesto be plated may be dipped into a molten bath of the plating mixture, byunskilled labor. No expensive apparatus or machinery or skilled labor isrequired as in electro plating processes. Plating done with my alloy orcomposition is superior to and less expensive than silver plating doneby the electro deposition of the silver; Copper plates silvered with mycomposition are cheaper and better than the silvered plates heretoforemade by other processes for the amalgamation of gold and silver obtainedin amalgamating mills.

I claim- 1. A silver plating alloy or composition, composed mainly ofquicksilver, and paraffine, and of relatively small quantities ofsodium, lead and zinc or tin, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

2. A silver plating alloy or composition, composed of quicksilver,paraffine, sodium, lead and zinc, or tin in approximately the quantitiesspecified, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein'presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. ODELL.

Witnesses:

CHARLES M. GoLMAN, PATRICK MEANY.

